St Kilda restaurant, Café Di Stasio, was honoured last night as one of the country’s must-visit restaurants, winning the Hottest Classic award atThe Australian Hot 50 Restaurant Awards industry dinner at The Darling hotel in Sydney.

The Hottest Classic restaurant is one that’s highly successful, well-regarded, consistently excellent and continually evolving with the times. It just happens to have been around a fair while.

The Weekend Australian Magazine’s restaurant critic, John Lethlean, led the judging panel of food writers Necia Wilden and Simon Thomsen, along with expert contributors in a number of states. Lethlean said that is was Café Di Stasio’s ability to channel the golden era of restaurants that led it to being awarded the Hottest Classic title.

“What we recognise about Café Di Stasio is its ability to time and time again, deliver astonishingly good, deceptively simple food,” said Lethlean.

Lethlean continued, “We were looking for restaurants on the cutting edge of Australian dining that are really doing something different. We looked at every aspect, from the food and service to the wine list and restaurant design. We wanted to find the hottest restaurants that epitomise Australian dining and where it’s heading. We are really proud of the Awards; they are a great representation of the Australian culinary landscape.”